OAKLAND -- The Golden State Warriors came out firing in front of a raucous capacity crowd, taking an early 12-3 lead on the way to a 115-104 Game 2 win over the Utah Jazz Thursday night at the Oracle Arena.
Draymond Green hit 4-of-5 triples as the Warriors opened up a 33-15 bubble after one quarter of action. But with Gordon Hayward scoring 12 points, the Jazz outscored the Warriors 32-27 in the second quarter to cut their deficit to 60-47 at the half.
With the win, the Warriors have remained unbeaten in these playoffs and they now lead the Jazz 2-0 in their best-of-7 Western Conference semifinals.
Game 3 shifts to Utah on Saturday night (Sunday AM in Manila).
It is only game two of the series and it is apparent that there is no history between the two teams, lack of bad blood perhaps? Mutual respect maybe?
Whatever it is, it ended in the third quarter where the Jazz cut the lead to six. But with their cheering fans behind him, the encouraged Warriors roared back to life as Steph Curry threw a heads up pass to Andrew Igoudala who caught it, dribbled behind his back before giving a no-look pass for a Kevin Durant slam.
Despite an epic performance from Gordon Hayward, leading all scorers with 33 points on 11 of 21 shooting from the field along with 5 rebounds and 4 assists, the Jazz couldn't overcome an 18-point third quarter deficit.
Rudy Gobert scored 16 points and 16 rebounds, but Joe Johnson scored just eight points and three assists.
Warriors got 25 points, 11 boards and 7 dimes from Durant while Green finished with 21. Green went down in the 4th quarter holding on to his knee, but he came back to help seal the deal.
Stephen Curry added 23 points.(RPM)
Photo: Draymond Green flexes his muscles after scoring on a drive and getting fouled Thursday night, when the Warriors toppled the Jazz for a 2-0 lead.
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